An 11% year-over-year Week 20 increase in U.S. fractional and charter private jet activity helped drive global flying to a 4.0% YTD gain.
Worldwide private jet flight activity in Week 20 continued its upward trend.
Data from WingX covers the week ending May 17, 2026.
The 80,126 flights were 4% higher than the same week in 2025.
They were also up 5% from Week 19.
Over the past four weeks, global private jet segments were up 2% year-over-year.
So far, in 2026, on a year-over-year basis, the scorecard shows:
Year-to-date private jet activity is 4.0% ahead of 2025.
That compares to the 2.5% year-over-year increase at the same point in 2025 compared to 2024.
North America, the largest market segment, is leading the way.
It’s up 5.0% year-over-year.
Europe, despite the anti-private-jet movement, is up 3.3% year over year through Week 20.
That reverses an 0.8% dip at the same point in 2025 compared to 2024.
Smaller markets, South America (+4.7%) and Asia (+4.0%), are seeing strong year-over-year gains.
Africa is down 1.1% year-to-date compared to last year.
The Middle East is down 21.5% so far this year, compared to last year.
Wing X analyst Nick Koscinski talked about the current situation.
Nick Koscinski says:
‘Global bizjet activity continues to chug along around 4% higher than last year’s traffic levels heading into the summer vacation season. Additionally, Middle East bizjet fuel is showing tentative signs of recovery with last week’s fuel levels 5% higher than the pre-conflict baseline.’
North America accounted for 58,704 of 80,126 worldwide private jet flights in Week 20.
That works out to 73% of all activity.
It was up 7% compared to 2025.
The U.S., with 57,013 flights, was also up 7% year over year.
Texas continued its strong run, up 15%.
The Lone Star State has seen year-over-year growth of 6% over the past four weeks.
Europe’s 11,415 departures put it flat compared to last year.
However, European departures were up 4% year over year during the trailing four weeks.
| Market | Week 20 | % Change vs. prior week | % Change vs W20 2025 | 52-week high | Week | 52-week low | Week | Last 4 Weeks (Flights) | % Change vs YOY |
| Global | 80126 | 5% | 4% | 83379 | 2025-42 | 63801 | 2026-01 | 311089 | 2% |
| North America | 58704 | 7% | 7% | 61824 | 2025-42 | 43521 | 2025-27 | 226345 | 3% |
| USA | 57013 | 7% | 7% | 59939 | 2025-42 | 41989 | 2025-27 | 219965 | 4% |
| Florida | 7258 | -3% | 7% | 10106 | 2026-08 | 4384 | 2025-33 | 30913 | 3% |
| California | 5167 | -2% | 5% | 6071 | 2026-07 | 3908 | 2025-27 | 21229 | 3% |
| Texas | 6097 | 11% | 15% | 6709 | 2025-47 | 4038 | 2025-27 | 22873 | 6% |
| Europe | 11415 | 2% | 0% | 16231 | 2025-28 | 6572 | 2026-01 | 43579 | 4% |
| UK | 1662 | 8% | -2% | 2290 | 2025-28 | 934 | 2026-01 | 6184 | 2% |
| Germany | 1296 | -6% | -7% | 1692 | 2025-22 | 541 | 2026-01 | 5207 | 10% |
| France | 1773 | 6% | 3% | 2900 | 2025-28 | 1073 | 2026-01 | 6522 | 4% |
| Switzerland | 708 | 4% | -1% | 1082 | 2026-04 | 582 | 2025-48 | 2776 | 8% |
| Italy | 1379 | -20% | 0% | 2560 | 2025-26 | 571 | 2026-01 | 5726 | 19% |
| Middle East | 1170 | 12% | -37% | 1817 | 2025-44 | 755 | 2026-11 | 4518 | -32% |
| Africa | 772 | -2% | -2% | 1060 | 2025-48 | 612 | 2025-39 | 3242 | -9% |
| Asia | 2178 | 4% | 8% | 2780 | 2025-49 | 1941 | 2025-29 | 8774 | 5% |
| South America | 2596 | -2% | 15% | 3080 | 2025-51 | 1722 | 2026-01 | 10771 | 15% |
Source: WingX for Private Jet Card Comparisons. Includes Jets and VIP Airliners.
The Middle East continued to struggle, down 37% year over year despite a 12% week-over-week increase.
For the trailing four weeks, Middle East Departures are down 32%.
Worldwide charter and fractional flights were up 6% year over year.
Charter and fractional flying accounted for 42,311 of the week’s 80,126 total segments.
U.S. charter and fractional segments were up 11% year-over-year.
For the trailing four weeks, segments were up 8%.
| Market (Part 91K & Part 135) | Week 20 | % Change vs. prior week | % Change vs W20 2025 | 52-week high | Week | 52-week low | Week | Last 4 Weeks (Flights) | % Change vs YOY |
| Global | 42311 | 4% | 6% | 43919 | 2025-42 | 34299 | 2026-03 | 164168 | 5% |
| North America | 32993 | 5% | 10% | 34596 | 2025-42 | 24900 | 2025-27 | 127516 | 8% |
| USA | 32346 | 5% | 11% | 33875 | 2025-42 | 24217 | 2025-27 | 125100 | 8% |
| Florida | 4461 | -5% | 11% | 6169 | 2026-12 | 2426 | 2025-33 | 19113 | 7% |
| California | 3370 | -2% | 5% | 4081 | 2026-07 | 2646 | 2025-27 | 13687 | 3% |
| Texas | 2974 | 10% | 26% | 3119 | 2025-47 | 1897 | 2025-27 | 11096 | 16% |
| Europe | 7515 | 2% | -5% | 11694 | 2025-28 | 4801 | 2026-02 | 28983 | 0% |
| UK | 1081 | 8% | -8% | 1636 | 2025-28 | 728 | 2026-01 | 4049 | -5% |
| Germany | 802 | 2% | -6% | 1125 | 2025-22 | 397 | 2026-01 | 3103 | 4% |
| France | 1177 | 2% | -3% | 2175 | 2025-28 | 697 | 2026-02 | 4408 | 2% |
| Switzerland | 494 | -1% | -6% | 748 | 2026-07 | 416 | 2025-48 | 1989 | 5% |
| Italy | 956 | -22% | -5% | 1917 | 2025-27 | 432 | 2026-01 | 4100 | 16% |
| Middle East | 465 | 3% | -48% | 1051 | 2025-35 | 344 | 2026-11 | 1794 | -46% |
| Africa | 207 | 0% | -10% | 280 | 2025-48 | 142 | 2026-09 | 870 | -5% |
| Asia | 231 | -14% | -18% | 384 | 2025-48 | 186 | 2026-06 | 1067 | -1% |
| South America | 67 | 5% | 72% | 84 | 2026-16 | 30 | 2025-42 | 262 | 46% |
Source: WingX for Private Jet Card Comparisons. Includes Jets and VIP Airliners.
Texas charter and fractional activity was up 26% year over year for the week.
Over the past four weeks, charter and fractional flights were up 16%.
European charter and fractional flying were down 5% year over year in Week 20.
For the past four weeks, it has been flat compared to last year.
Fractional and charter operators continued to struggle with Middle East flying.
Week 20 brought a 48% year-over-year dip.
In the trailing four weeks, segments were 46% lower than a year ago.
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